Create jobs and stop looking for those to employ you, Finance Minister, Okonjo-Iweala, has counselled graduates swelling the ranks of the unemployed and roaming the streets.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iwealanjo
She also wants Nigerians to hold governors and council chairmen responsible for revenue allocations to ensure national development without everyone looking up to Abuja to deliver all the goods.
Okonjo-Iweala, who is also Co-ordinating Minister of Economy, spoke at Babcock University, Ilisan-Remo, where 1,560 students graduated at the school’s 12th convocation.
She and Ebony Live Television Chief Executive Officer, Mosunmola Abudu, were awarded honorary doctorate degrees in recognition of their social service.
“Abudu is a media professional and we are proud of the great achievement in her career,” Babcock President/Vice-Chancellor, Professor Kayode Makinde, stated in justifying the awards.
Abudu, popularly known as Mo Abudu, said she was “speechless and honoured” to be given the award and “extremely happy to be associated with this prestigious university.”
She challenged the graduands to think and dream big, stressing, “The time has come to act and that time is now.”
Delivering a lecture entitled “Transforming Nigeria’s economy: Opportunities and Challenges,” Okonjo-Iweala urged Nigerians to hold governors and council chairmen accountable for allocations given to states and councils, to ensure national transformation.
She reiterated that revenue allocations of some states surpass the annual budgets of some African countries.
According to her, the top 10 allocations in 2013 went to Akwa Ibom (N260 billion), Rivers (N230 billion), Delta (N209 billion), Bayelsa (N173 billion), Lagos (N168 billion), Kano (N140 billion), Katsina (N103 billion), Oyo (N100 billion), Kaduna (N97 billion) and Borno (N94 billion).
“In those days, states said they were not getting their money. That is no longer the case. States are now getting the money that is available as it is shared each month.
“We publish it in the national dailies every month so that people can know what their state, local government and the federal government receive in terms of allocation,” Okonjo-Iweala said.
“These were the allocations that all these states got last year, so the question is what did they do with it?
“Analysis shows that many states receive revenue allocation that are larger than the budgetary allocation of neighbouring countries, such as Liberia, whose budget is $433 million, and Gambia, $210 million.”
She advised Nigerians to seek answers from their governors, as poverty eradication and building infrastructure should not be left to Abuja alone.
She urged the graduands to “run on your own gas under the supervision of the Holy Spirit. You have earned the right to make an input in life. Go and make a difference.
“Go and make impact. Be a change influence. Be job creators and not job seekers.”
Makinde said in spite of the low quality of education in Nigeria, Babcock still prides itself on churning out graduands whose “head, hand and hearts have been trained for excellence.”
The school has just completed a 140-bed teaching hospital with anatomy and pathology laboratories and a radio diagnostic laboratory with MRI-CT.
Makinde disclosed that the Babcock cardiac centre will perform the first open heart surgery in Nigeria in 2015, and people will no longer have to travel abroad for such treatment.
He advised the graduands not to be afraid to make mistakes which are part of the experiences of life.
Of the 1,560 graduands, 44 received first class degree; 1,227 (second class, upper), 292 (second class, lower). None had third class or pass.